 On
the Net
with Chris Goh
Portability, convergence and access
For the first time ever this year, the United States has reported that laptops
have outsold desktops. This last year has shown us portable devices can do almost
anything with better computer processors and storage capacity.
The increase of bandwidth to the world has made things like video and audio
casting practical, so much so that now the term they use for what has been around
for the last five years is Podcasting, which shows the impact the iPod has made
not only in the vocabulary of the technology world but to a world culture that
is now understanding the power of portability, convergence and broadband access.
Broadband access has been the hardest for Australians to get but that has become
a little less burdensome with wireless technology burgeoning in rural communities.
Attending Cebit this year, I didn't really see any new innovations in technology
- things are just getting smaller, there are more things in one device and there
are a few more things that can attach to the internet. The VOIP space was certainly
the most prominent feature this year with a number of manufacturers of phones
and providers that have been seen around the world in various IT expos.
Hotnews
Just when Microsoft made an announcement that their next generation of Xbox
will run on IBM processors, which will be a customised version of the PowerPC
Processor, Apple has announced (after trying for awhile now) that Apples of the
future will have Intel chips. Speculation of the primary reason for this change
is that Apple wants access to fast, low-voltage chips that create minimal heat.
Apple is still waiting on a G5 chip it can use on its range of laptops.
In a major corporate deal, HP has signed a purchase order of US$5 billion worth
of flat screens to be used from desktops to laptops, which will mean that LG will
come close in the world market share of flat screens with Samsung.
The US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease and the Public
Health Agency of Canada have worked together to create a vaccine that has proven
100 per cent effective against the Ebola and Marbug virus in monkeys.
Linux fans will already know that Debian 3.0 is out. Those who are familiar
with their Linux flavours know that Debian is renowned for its thoroughness and
determination to get a zero bug count in the OS they have worked so hard for.
ICANN, the authority for internet naming, has approved the .XXX domain for
adult sites. However, it remains to be seen how many sites will relinquish their
.com addresses when they're aware moving domain names will easily allow them to
be filtered by web masters. It will be interesting to see which governments force
through legislation to see adults sites hosted on this domain.
After many years trying to compete in the mobile phone market, Siemens has
decided to call it quits by selling its mobile phone operations to BenQ, which
are better known for computer peripherals, laptops and projectors. BenQ (a spin
off from Acer) has been making mobile phones for a while for both Motorola and
NEC, but this will give them their own branding to take to the market place.
The annual Webby Awards are no longer in the same league of glamour they were
in the dot com days, but last night Al Gore received a Lifetime Achievement Award
for supporting the internet through political means. All winners were asked to
do a speech of no more than five words. His was: "Please don't recount these
votes."
By June 30 any Chinese citizen who has a BLOG will need to register their site
with the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry or face hefty fines.
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